DRAWING on the comprehensive website built by Blessed Carlo Acutis - who died, aged 15, in 2006 and was beatified in October 2020 - the RE department in Assumption Grammar School mounted an Advent exhibition featuring a selection of Eucharistic Miracles recognised by the Church.
In an article on the website, Fr Roberto Coggi, O.P. writes: "Eucharistic miracles are God's extraordinary interventions, which are meant to confirm the faith in the presence of the body and blood of the Lord in the Eucharist.
"We know the Catholic teaching on the real presence. With the words of consecration: 'This is my body,' 'This is my blood,' the substance of bread becomes the body of Christ and the substance of wine His blood.
"The Lord performs these Eucharistic miracles to give us a sign, easy and visible to all, that in the Eucharist there is the true body and true blood of the Lord."
Ms Máire Daly, Head of RE in Assumption Grammar, said the aim of the display was "to engage the whole school student population in an activity that helps them not only come to a deeper appreciation of their faith but then translate that into a lived reality".
"Reading the range of documented miraculous accounts can be a useful and fruitful aid to our faith, helping to make the invisible, perceptible. Eucharistic Miracles can encourage us to understand, appreciate and love the Eucharist more fully," she said.
Using resources from miracolieucaristici.org, the website that Blessed Carlo Acutis created, the RE department downloaded information about a range of miracles from across the world and the centuries.
To help the students to engage with the information, the RE department created a Eucharistic Miracle Advent Trail, with questions that had to be answered on each miracle.
"Using the rationale of a treasure hunt, we placed six boards around the school, with each board exhibiting a different miracle from a different country," explained Ms Daly.
"Students were given directions on the board where to move to next so they could complete their answer sheets.
"With over eight countries displayed and 50 questions to answer, the whole journey around the school would take up to 40 minutes, with many students completing them in their own time during break and lunchtime."
Once completed, students would return to the RE department with their sheets and then would be questioned further as to what they had learned; if they had given up the practice of their faith the opportunity was used to encourage them to return to Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Only then would they be given a chocolate bar for their efforts...
"It has been a great way for us to experience the real presence of Jesus in our midst this Advent and to help students appreciate the beautiful and most holy gift the Eucharist is to the Church," said Ms Daly.
